Cotton batting



R. S. DWIGHT COTTON BATTING June 22, 1937.

Filed Sept. 15, 1956 Jag INVENTOR. BY 7/9 W ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 22, 1937 ATET OFHCE COTTON BATTING Application September 15, 1936, Serial No. 100,902

2 Glaims.

This invention relates to the art of making cotton comforters, quilts, blankets and similar articles of manufacture. More particularly, the invention is directed to improvements in the bat- 5 ting or cotton inner-layer of which such articles are comprised, and also to a new process for making batting, by means of which quilts, blankets, comforters, and the like are improved in appearance and made more heat retentive.

It is an object of the present invention to provide cotton batting which is whiter in appearance than the batting which heretofore has been available. In this respect the product of the present invention is described and claimed as an improvement over the products which have been available. However, by reason of the fact that the process by means of which this greater whiteness is provided differs appreciably from the prior processes, and also by reason of the fact that the characteristics which are exhibited by the products of this process are unusual and unexpected, a brief analysis of the prior art is requisite in order to understand fully the nature of the present advance.

Cotton batting, as the term is used in the present specification is intended to designate sheets or layers comprised of fibres of cotton relatively loosely intermingled, intertwined and associated into a soft fiuffy membrane adapted to use as padding between outer fabric coverings to provide cushioning effects.

In a more limited sense, however, the batting of the present invention particularly is adapted to use in the making of quilts, comforts, fancy cushions and like articles. These usually are made by disposing one or more layers of the batting between outer fabric coverings which usually are ornamented or decorated by embroidery work or by pattern quilting.

Particularly in the instances where articles of this. nature are made by the housewives in the homes, delicate silk, sateen, taffeta and rayon materals are selected for the outer coverings because of their fine and pleasing appearance. The colors of these coverings usually vary from white only to light pastel shades of pink, blue and green since the darker colors generally do not suit the color schemes used in bedrooms, or the more feminine modes of decoration and also since the white shades of color in any event, are more suited to the emphasis of freshness and cleanliness. It is significant to note that the color of the batting of these cushions, comforts or quilts, 55 which is in a sense a background color over which these light delicate semi-transparent fabric colors are delineated, should be spotlessly white in color.

Two general types of cotton batting have been available in the past. The first of these types is comprised of clean unbleached cotton fibres entwine into a soft, sheet-like structure which may vary anywhere from one-eighth of an inch in thickness up to, perhaps, three-fourths of an inch or more, to suit the intended usage. The batting comprised of cotton of this type usually is quite fiuffy and resilient. The fibres exhibit all of their natural sleaziness, and, if the fibres are compressed together, they tend quickly to restore themselves to the natural puffed relationship.

But the difficulty is that these raw cotton fibres, though clean and free of dirt, are dirty and gray looking from the point of view of color appearance. Unfortunately, moreover, this dirty appearance seems to be accentuated when the fibres are associated in batting form. It is ob vious. that when the delicate send-transparent silk or sateen coverings of clear white or light color, are laid over and quilted through padding of ths nature, more frequently than not the color of the underneath batting modifies the fine appearance of the outer covering. The result is that these modified colors appear to be turbid and somewhat muddy. It is, of course, to be expected that such results are discouraging to the housewives who have spent many hours in the necessary quilting operations and who most likely cannot comprehend the nature of the trouble.

On the other hand, to obviate these conditions, the manufacturers have attempted to bleach cotton to a clear white color, then form this bleached while cotton into batting. In this instance, however, the difficulty is that the bleached cotton fibres (or linters which incidentally are quite cheap in cost) lose much of their life and their resiliency in the chemical bleaching process. Consequently, the bats made from such fibres tend to mat and knot quickly during use into dead felt-like layers, which feel quite hard and solid.

Attempts also have been made to mix bleached cotton with raw cotton, and then form these mixed fibres into batting, to provide the desired combination of resiliency in feel and whiteness in color, but the disadvantages attending the use of bleached linters dominate the advantages possessed by the raw cotton in that the final products, o gh Whiter in appearance than the bats made of unbleached fibres, to an unusual degree have tended to mat and compact too easily.

The present invention comprehends cotton batting, either of the glazed or unglazed variety, which is clear, clean and white in color and adapted to use in conjunction with outer fabric coverings even of the most delicate light shades, and which also is so resilient and sleazy that it compares more than favorably with batting of the unbleached cotton variety.

The invention, by means of which these advantages are provided, is predicated upon the discovery that when layers comprised of a dominant portion of bleached cotton fibres are associated in a generally laminated relationship with layers comprised of a dominant portion of raw or unbleached cotton fibres, then the advantages of the sleaziness of the unbleached or raw fibres are combined to the fullest extent, with the advantages in color and cost of the bleached fibres or linters. According to this discovery, therefore, it is the concept of the present invention to associate layers of cotton dominantly bleached with layers of cotton dominantly raw or unbleached alternately, or in a generally laminated relation.

These respective layers of cotton fibres of the two general types which preferably alternate in terms of greater proportion, are compiled until batting of the desired thickness is provided. The thickness of the individual layer likewise is adjusted to suit the desired conditions and may vary anywhere from about 4 ounces to 12 ounces per square yard in thickness, or more.

According to the present invention, the individual layers preferably are made entirely of the bleached and unbleached varieties, respectively. On the other hand, however, I have determined that the advantages which I have described are obtained when the general laminated relationship is utilized, even though the bleached cotton layer, for example, may include a lesser proportionv of raw cotton, while the unbleached layer may include a lesser proportion of bleached cotton. I have used the term dominant in the foregoing description to denote the qualities which characterize the cotton in the respective layers in the greater proportions. It will be understood, therefore, that the invention comprehends batting comprised of layers of cotton which respectively exhibit the qualities which characterize the two general types of cotton fibre, even though these layers individually are not comprised entirely of the one type of cotton or the other. For purposes of illustration, the invention is disclosed in relation to the utilization of alternate layers of cotton bleached, and cotton raw or unbleached .QlLas the preferred embodiment, and the modified relationship just discussed is disclosed to illustrate the adjustments which are possible, to suit particular conditions of color, cost and quality.

By reason of the general laminated relationship of 'layers of cotton alternately bleached and unbleached, I obtain all of the advantages in color and cost of bleached cotton, but none of its disadvantages, and likewise all of the advantages of sleaziness and resiliency of raw cotton, but none of its disadvantages, particularly with respect to color. The slight color quota imparted to the batting by reason of the raw cotton portion is not visible to the naked eye,

and the resilient puffiness of raw cotton is exhibited to the fullest degree.

The next feature of the invention, which is wholly unexpected, is that the batting made in accordance with the invention is much more heat retentive than batting of equal weight of any of the types which heretofore have been available. Thereason for this peculiar phenomenon is not understood. It may be that the bleached fibres or linters compact very readily to form membranes less permeable to the passage of air than the intermediate raw cotton which in its puffed condition provides dead air pockets having notable insulating qualities. Whether or not this explanation accurately indicates the conditions, the: fact remains that the quilts and comforters filled with batting made in accordance with the process of the present invention are much warmer, even than heavy grade wool blankets of equal weight, as illustrated by the following examples.

Example 1 In comparison to a heavy, winter grade all wool blanket, weighing 4 lbs. '7 ozs., size 90"x'74", a blanket comforter, size 90fx72, weighing l lbs/14 ozs., comprising a 2 lb. bat constructed in accordance with the present invention, covered on each side with light weight cotton sheet blanket, exhibited 33% more heat retention under equal test conditions.

Example 2 In comparison to a heavy, winter grade all wool blanket, weighing 4 lbs. 7 ozs., size 90 x 74", a rayon taffeta covered comforter, 1

size 90 x '70" weighing 3 lbs. 8 ozs., and containing a bat made in accordance with the present invention, exhibited 10% more heat retention under equal test conditions.

Example 3 In comparison to a heavy, winter grade, all wool blanket weighing 4 lbs. 7 ozs., size 90" X 74", a panel comforter of cretonne and sateen comprised of a bat made in accordance with the present invention, size 90" x 72" weighting 3 lbs. 11 ozs., exhibited 25% more heat retention under equal test conditions.

These tests were made with the use of an electric heating pad and electricalmeters and thermo couples were used to measure the heat supplied under the blanket and the temperature at a plurality of points. The tests were made under still air conditions and also with a blast of air circulating across the test pieces. The under sides of the blankets were insulated to approximate the conditions provided by a heavy mattress.

The unusual thing indicated in the tests is that even the comforters covered with the naturally thin coverings of rayon, taffeta, cretonne and sateen still exhibited greater heat retention than the high grade all wool heavy blankets of much greater weight, by reason of the greater capacity for heat retention possessed by the bats with which these comforters were filled.

The products of the present invention, therefore, are characterized in three important respects. They are as white to the naked eye as bats made entirely from bleached cotton and substantially as white even under colorimetric conditions of investigation, depending upon the naturalcolor and the quantity of raw cotton used;

they are as resilient, puffed and full of life as bats comprised entirely of raw cotton of equal grade; and they are much more heat retentive than bats comprised of raw cotton or bleached cotton or a combination of these. The bats, moreover, when made into quilts are much more heat retentive than the much more expensive woven wool blankets of equal or greater weight. It is obvious, of course, that there is a very large difference in the cost of the comforters filled with bats of the present invention and the heavier wool blankets.

In practicing the process of the present invention layers of fibres respectively exhibiting the characteristics of bleached and unbleached cotton serially are associated or compiled into a bat of the thickness desired. From the mechanical point of view, these layers either may be formed individually then composed into a laminated structure, or layers of the respective characteristios may be built upon one another with the use of a cotton bat making machine, the operation of which is understood fully by those skilled in the art. I prefer to use layers comprised dominantly of bleached cotton as the outer facing of the bat. These outer facings may be glazed or sized in the conventional manner to suit conditions intended.

If it is desired to mix a lesser portion of raw cotton with a greater portion of bleached cotton, in preparing the bleached cotton layer, or if a lesser portion of bleached cotton is to be used with a greater portion of raw or unbleached cotton, then it is preferable first to mix the Various supply quantities, then use these quantities in the manufacturing phase of the operation.

By reason of the natural fuzzy appearance of cotton fibres, the laminated relationship of the respective layers is not readily visible to the eye, if the bats are viewed in cross section. In cutting the bats for the purposes of investigation the fibres at the cutting edge usually are distorted and compact so that the established relationship appears in a disturbed condition, unless the cutting is done very carefully. In the accompanying drawing, the invention in terms of the preferred embodiment is illustrated as clearly as possible.

In Figure 1, I have shown a cross section through a bat, constructed in accordance with the present invention, and I have accentuated the variation in appearance which exists between the several layers. prised of fibres of cotton dominantly of the unbleached variety are shown at 2 and layers of cotton comprised of fibres dominantly of the bleached variety are shown at 3. In actual practice, of course, the interface between the layers of the two characteristics is hardly distinguishable since the fibres at these layers intertwine and knit together into a relatively sturdy and substantially unitary structure.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. Cotton batting comprised of laminations of layers of cotton fibres alternately dominantly bleached and unbleached, whereby the cotton batting is caused to possess improved heat insulating qualities.

2. Cotton batting comprised of laminations of In this figure, layers com-- 

